In the Foreword to our new release book MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: The $ickness Industry, Big Pharma and Suppressed Cures, retired pharmacist and author Denis Toovey says in his own career as a pharmacist spanning 40 years, he has seen many examples of patients falling through the cracks in the health system.
Denis’s foreword follows in full:
This book is part of The Underground Knowledge Series by James & Lance Morcan. In it, they raise some very important questions concerning the state of modern medicine today and the major players in the highly profitable medical sector. Questions that certainly need to be brought out into the open and discussed with politicians and administrators who often hide behind closed doors.
While it would be nice to think none of the negative issues raised in this book are true, my suspicions are that, sadly, this is not the case.
In my own career as a pharmacist spanning 40 years, I have seen many examples of patients falling through the cracks in the health system as a direct result of health providers focusing on high patient turnover on a ‘fee-for-service’ basis with no guarantee of results.
On top of this, all too often health professionals have to work within systems created by politicians and administrators that allow for zero direct responsibility for patient outcomes. In fact, it is interesting to consider that, despite the millions of dollars invested in research, we have few medicines that actually cure patients in the real sense of the word.
Sadly, for many doctors, ‘cure’ means ‘a quick fix,’ often putting patients on a medicine for the rest of their lives with the possibility of adverse side effects, and no guarantee of a positive outcome. In light of this, there is no hiding the huge influence drug companies have on the practice of medicine which has stalled finding real cures.
The health system is more about the ambulance at the bottom of a cliff than a fence at the top. What we need, I believe, is a focus on real cures and prevention of disease with a strong focus on the body (healthy lifestyle), mind and spirit.
I am sure people want to take more responsibility for their health, but often do not know where to start. Equally, some health professionals do not take too kindly to patients who want to be involved in decisions about their treatment.
The Morcans highlight the tendency to label holistic as quackery – an ironic description when you consider holistic practitioners tend to focus on dealing with the causes of disease rather than just treating symptoms with medicines.
I am excited that more doctors today are practicing functional medicine, which has a lot in common with a holistic approach. Incidentally, I encourage people to spell holistic ‘wholistic’ to emphasise the whole (big) picture.
Serious questions need to be asked about a health ‘system’ in which politicians are often reluctant to invest money in long term, preventative measures. Measures that may take years to show a return on investment. Instead, they tend to focus on short term tangible things like spending more money to reduce waiting surgical waiting lists (to win votes) instead of dealing with the long term underlying causes, such as obesity, that are plaguing our world.
Regarding obesity, the public health message to reduce fat intake has actually led to many people getting their energy from high Glycaemic index carbohydrates. These often lead to insulin resistance, diabetes and, believe it or not, the production of fat in the body, giving rise to obesity, which is linked to many diseases including cancer.
-Denis Toovey B. App. Sc. (Pharmacy) and Post Grad. Dip. (Clinical Pharmacy)
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Denis Toovey is author of Better Health for You – An Insider’s Big Picture Guide.
To check it out on Amazon go to: http://www.amazon.com/Better-Health-You-Insiders-Picture-ebook/dp/B00R5YK1HG/
Denis’ Better Health for You website is worth checking out also: www.betterhealthforyou.co.nz
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Morcan Books & Films 